by L. P. Dover
“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure she has a shoulder to cry on at your funeral. We’ve gotten pretty close over the years. Everything should fall into place naturally.”
“Like she would ever have anything to do with you once she finds out who you are. You shot her for Christ’s sake,” I shouted venomously. “She’s smart; she’ll figure it all out.”
Snarling, he moved closer. “That bullet was meant for you, not her. The plan was simple. Get rid of you and go back to a normal life. I tried to tell Mason he was a fool for putting her on your case but he wouldn’t listen.”
“And now you’re here to do your brother’s bidding. Kind of pathetic if you ask me. It’s a shame you’re too much of a chicken shit to fight me fair.” My time was running out and I knew I had to do something fast. Talking was only going to get me so far; he was determined to end this.
“I know more about fighting than you’d think.” Reaching behind his back, he kept his attention on me as he pulled out a suppressor and attached it to the gun. “I just hate I don’t have the time to show you.” He lifted the gun and put his finger on the trigger. I had to make my move. “See you in hell, Jameson.”
One . . . two . . . I ducked on three and lunged. A pain like I’d never felt before exploded in my shoulder, ripping right through my skin. I tackled Gabe to the floor and the gun slid across the room, out of reach. Blood poured down my arm, but I didn’t have time to think about that. All I wanted to do was make him pay. We landed on the floor and I reared back and punched him on the side of the face, followed by an elbow jab. Blood poured from his nose and he growled, returning the sentiment with a punch to my shoulder. I clenched my teeth, sucking in an angry breath, but my moment of pain lost my momentum.
Getting to his feet, Gabe charged after me and knocked me back down on the floor. His arm came around my neck and squeezed, cutting off my air. “That’s right, keep fighting jackass. The more you fight, the more you bleed.” My left arm was going numb and blood was going everywhere. Fuck. Eventually, I would bleed out. There was no way in hell I was going to let him win.
Grabbing his arm, I pried it away from my neck just enough so I could head butt him in the chin. His head snapped back into the coffee table, not once but three times as I slammed him into it. He grunted with the impact and his hold loosened. But I wasn’t letting go. With his wrist in my hand, I twisted his arm and laughed when he shouted in pain.
“Let’s see how you fight with one arm. It’s only fair.” I growled as I pulled and twisted his arm, hearing the snap and pop of his bones as they broke and pulled out of the socket. He shouted and looked down at his limp arm, his eyes blazing in fury.
“You are so dead,” he thundered.
That’s when I saw the gun. It was only a few feet away from him. Unfortunately, he followed my line of sight and saw it too, lunging before I even had the chance, Gabe picked up the gun and slowly turned to me. His eyes went wide and a shot echoed through the room.
I blinked, wondering why I hadn’t felt any pain.
Dropping the gun, Gabe looked down at his chest, at the blood soaking through his shirt. He fell to his knees and focused on something behind me. I turned to look and standing there, with a gun still pointed at his chest, was Brooklyn. Her tear stained face focused only on him.
GABE WAS ON his knees, holding his hand over the wound I’d just inflicted. It was a fatal blow and as I stood there with the gun in my hand, I realized I was watching him die.
A red soaked hand came down on mine and lowered my hand, gently prying the gun away. Tears blurred my vision and I felt numb as Camden turned me to face him. He was pale and wobbly on his feet. “Brooklyn, it’s okay.”
Seeing the way he looked, it didn’t take me long to realize what had happened; he had been shot too. “Oh my God, Camden, you’re really hurt.” He pulled me over to the couch and leaned against it, his face scrunched in agony. Rushing to the kitchen, I grabbed a clean dishtowel and hurried back. He hissed when I pressed it down on his shoulder.
“It’s not that bad, buttercup. Now I know how it felt when he shot you,” he said, glaring over to Gabe who fell back on the floor with a loud thud. “Goddamn . . . that was like out of a movie¸ or some shit.”
I wiped away my tears and helped Camden slide to the floor. He was about to lose consciousness. “Stay with me,” I commanded. “Keep your eyes open. Help’s on the way.” I leaned over to kiss him, my body shaking as I glanced at Gabe’s still form.
“Go, baby. I . . . I know this . . . isn’t easy on you.” Breathing hard, he closed his eyes and kept his hand over his wound, hissing in pain.
“It’s not easy on you either,” I whispered. “Hang tight. I love you.”
Judging by the pool of blood on the floor, Gabe didn’t have much longer. His body jerked and his chest rose and fell with his rapid, gurgling breaths. Slowly, I approached him and when his dark eyes fell on mine, I broke down and fell to my knees. I hated him for betraying me, but for years he had been my friend, always there for me when I needed him. He never once led me to believe he was a killer; he’d fooled us all.
“You’re a liar,” I cried, hissing the words. “I cared about you.”
“I . . . never wanted . . . to hurt you,” he gasped. “Sorry.” Stretching out his hand on the floor, he wanted me to take it but I couldn’t.
I shook my head and backed away. He might not have wanted to hurt me, but he did. There was no forgiveness for his betrayal. I had no clue what despicable things he had done in secret for Scar, of all of the people he probably killed. Sitting there with tears streaming down my cheeks, the last breath left his lips and the light died in his eyes. It was over. I reached down for a pulse and felt nothing.
The backup I’d called for came bursting through the door, guns drawn. I held up my hands and got to my feet. “I’m Brooklyn Avery, the one who called. We have one injured and one dead.” I rushed back over to Camden while they called for an ambulance. He looked even paler than before. “Baby, open your eyes,” I pleaded.
He opened one slightly and smiled. “I’m still here, my love. You’re not getting rid of me that easily.” Luckily, the wound was away from any major organs. I was, however, afraid for his fighting career. If the bullet damaged crucial nerves and ligaments, it could impact the way he used his arm and hand.
“Holy fuck,” Mason called out incredulously. Over my shoulder, I watched as he looked on in horror at Gabe’s body.
“Mason, over here.” When he saw me, I waved him over. He glanced down at Gabe one more time and I could see the emotions warring deep within. Camden had my gun beside him and for once in my life I didn’t want to touch it.
Mason rushed over and immediately pulled the towel away from Camden’s wound to inspect it. “Motherfucker,” he growled. “What happened?”
“I had a visitor.” Camden groaned. “I guess he didn’t care for my company.”
“Leave it to you to joke about something like this.” Rolling my eyes, I reluctantly glanced at Gabe’s motionless body. “I don’t know what all happened, but when I showed up Camden had already been shot and the house was a wreck. When I saw Gabe pointing the gun at him, his finger was on the trigger. So I shot him.”
Mason found my gun beside Camden and lifted his brows. “Are you sure that’s what happened?”
“Yes,” I snapped quickly. “After I . . .” Swallowing hard, I took a deep breath and tried to get the words out, but couldn’t. I’d always known that taking a life could be part of the job, but I never thought the first person I would kill would’ve been someone so close to me. My eyes started to burn and I let the tears fall. Those were my silent words.
Mason sighed and put his arm around me. “Fuck, B, I’m so sorry. I wasn’t thinking. I remember how hard it was when I had to kill my first, and he wasn’t a friend.”
“I just don’t understand. How could we not see it? Especially you,” I cried.
“He was an expert. I’m pretty sure Gabe wasn’t even
his real name. Once this goes under investigation, we’ll find out all the answers. Right now, let’s just get through the night and get Jameson to the hospital.”
Camden snorted. “Sounds good to me.”
IT’D BEEN THREE hours and still no word. Camden had stayed alert through the whole ambulance ride which completely shocked me. It was probably because Mason teased him the whole way, calling him a pussy if he passed out. I was glad Mason was there; he kept Camden in good spirits when I knew I couldn’t do it. The weight of Gabe’s death hung heavy on my soul.
Mason finally came back into the waiting room and pocketed his cell phone. I stood there with my arms crossed over my chest. “Took you long enough didn’t it? You’ve been gone for hours. I’m going out of my mind in here.”
He sat down and ran his hands over his face. “There were a lot of calls to make. I called Ryley first and told him. He should be here in the next hour, and so will Gabby and Pax.
“Ryley’s coming?” I gasped.
He nodded. “Yep. I just hope he knows what he’s doing. Camden deserves his wrath, but not right now.”
“How long do you think this is going to take? I hate not knowing what’s going on.”
Mason lifted his head and nodded toward the door. “It looks like we’re about to find out.” He got to his feet just as the doctor waltzed in. Dr. Russell was a middle aged man, with salt and pepper hair and a kind smile. That smile gave me hope.
“Good news. Mr. Jameson’s going to be just fine. We removed the bullet and cleaned out the wound. Of course, there was some muscle damage which could limit the ability in his arm. The recovery is all up to him now.”
“Can we see him?” I asked impatiently.
He nodded at us both. “Of course. Follow me and I’ll take you to him.”
Breathing a sigh of relief, I followed him out the door, but turned to find Mason rooted in his spot. “Are you not coming?”
“Nah, I think I’m going to hang out here and wait for everyone else.” He winked.
“Thank you,” I breathed.
I followed the doctor down the hall. The door was shut so he opened it and hung back while I walked inside. Once the door closed behind me, I tiptoed the rest of the way into the room. If he was asleep, I didn’t want to wake him.
“I can hear you,” he called out.
Smiling, I moved the curtain away and rushed to his side, the one that wasn’t bandaged up. He was still pale, but he greeted me with a smile. “I didn’t want to wake you if you were asleep,” I murmured. Leaning down, I kissed him gently and then took a seat. “How do you feel?”
He tried to move, but then stopped and winced. “Like hammered dog shit. But my main concern is how you are taking things.”
Swallowing hard, I grabbed his hand and brought it to my cheek; he squeezed it reassuringly. “Baby steps. The thing that helps is knowing I had to shoot him. There was no choice. It was either him or you. I chose you.”
“I’m just so glad it’s fucking over. No more running.”
Leaning over, I ran my hands through his hair and smiled. “That’s right. You’re free now. You can do whatever you want.”
“And so can you. When are you planning on going home to get your things in order?”
“As soon as you’re feeling better,” I said. Then I remembered the phone call with my mother. “Oh yeah, I almost forgot. I talked to my mom earlier tonight.”
“How did that go?” he asked.
I grinned. “She apologized for everything, Cam. Her and my father want to come see me and my brother in a couple of weeks. If you’re up to the challenge, I’d love to have you with me.”
“Are you sure that’s what you want? I’m not exactly parent material.”
“And how would you know? Have you met many parents?”
He smirked. “Not exactly, but I’ll go with you. They’ll probably want to meet the guy you’ll be living with.”
“Hopefully, my dad won’t shoot you. I think you’ve had enough of that kind of stuff for a while. But at least we have another thing in common.” I lifted my shirt to the scar on my side. “Matching bullet wounds.”
He chuckled. “That’s for damn sure. Hopefully, karma’s done fucking me in the ass.”
About that time, a knock came at the door and Mason strolled in. He looked a little hesitant, but tried to play it off by smiling. “How ya doing, slugger?”
“Could be better.”
He nodded. “I see that.”
“You look like you could too,” I cut in. “What’s wrong?”
He glanced at us both and then settled on Camden. “Your brother’s here. I didn’t know if you were ready to see him. He’s just outside.”
Camden clenched my hand, his expression uncertain.
“Hey,” I said, drawing his attention. “You can do this. You said it yourself that once everything was over you’d seek him out. But, now he is here for you. That’s a good sign.” I let go of his hand and got to my feet.
Closing his eyes, he sighed and leaned his head back on his pillow. “All right, let’s do this. If he wants to kill me, now would be the perfect time.”
“I’m not going to kill you, fuckhead,” Ryley called out. As soon as he came into view, his gaze went straight to Camden. Both brothers stared at each other without a word, as if they were communicating through a special bond. I felt like an intruder. Mason nodded toward the door and walked out. I got up to follow suit.
Once Camden’s eyes met mine, Ryley turned to me as well. “I’m going to leave and give you guys some privacy. I’ll just be in the waiting room.”
“Thanks, Brooklyn,” Ryley murmured with a smile. “Good to see you again.”
Camden narrowed his gaze. “You’ve met?”
“And that’s my cue,” I said, backing away toward the door. “Ryley, I’m glad you’re here. I’ll just let you explain how we met.” I mouthed the word ‘sorry’ to him and shrugged innocently at Camden before leaving. Once out the door, I shut it gently and leaned against it. With Ryley there, I could only hope their feud would finally come to an end. However, it wasn’t just Ryley he needed to convince; he needed Ashleigh’s forgiveness as well.
It just so happened she was in the waiting room with Mason. A sad smile splayed across her lips as I approached. “Mason told me what happened. I’m glad you’re all okay.”
“Me too. I’m just happy I was able to get to him before it was too late.”
She nodded, but I could see the hesitance in her eyes. Camden was still an uncomfortable subject for her. “I’m also sorry I didn’t get a chance to talk to you when you visited. I’ve heard a lot about you from Gabby. She’s dying to meet you.”
“And I her. Camden’s really fond of her. I heard the way they speak to each other. I’m glad he had a friend he could talk to while he was away. He’s changed a lot in the past few months.”
“So I heard,” she said. “Ryley’s missed him. You’ll have to excuse my lack of enthusiasm, it’s just hard to picture Camden as a changed man.”
“I know, and believe me I would’ve wanted to kill him after everything he did to you and Ryley.”
“You know about all of it?” she asked incredulously. I nodded in reply. “And you’re in love with him?”
“It’s crazy, I know. He even asked me to live with him.”
Her eyes went wide. “Are you going to?”
“I am.”
“And you believe in him that much?”
Again, I nodded. “I do. Which is why I want to talk to you now. Seeking Ryley’s forgiveness is one thing, but getting yours is another. He may get his brother’s blessing, but if he doesn’t get yours he’ll never fully recover. I know it’s a longshot, but I’m asking you to please find it in your heart to forgive him. He wants to be a part of your lives and if I’m going to be a part of his, I want to get to know you all too.”
She stared at me for the longest time and I almost gave up hope until she shook her head and chuckled. �
�No wonder he fell for you. You’re strong and determined, and obviously kick ass if you’re a cop. He needed someone to tame him down.”
That made me laugh. “So does this mean you’ll try?”
“I guess,” she replied with a wink. “And it’s only because I like you and have faith you’ll keep him in line. If he so much as messes up again, I can’t promise I won’t kill him.”
“If he messes up again, I’ll be the one to kill him. You have nothing to worry about.”
We both laughed while Mason sat in the corner, shaking his head. “I sure do hope Jameson knows what he’s getting in to.”
“If he doesn’t, he’ll have not one but two women coming to kick his ass,” I laughed.
“Three,” Gabriella chimed coming through the door. Paxton shook his head and grinned, taking a seat beside Mason. “You weren’t planning on leaving me out were you?”
Ashleigh smiled and put her arm around her, leading her over to me. “Wouldn’t dream of it, babe.” She pointed to each of us and said, “Gabby, this is Brooklyn. Brooklyn, Gabby.”
Gabby held out her hand and I took it. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”
She smiled. “Same to you. Although, I think I should bow in your presence.”
“Why?”
“You tamed the wild beast.” We all laughed, but little did they know, he wasn’t tame. He was still wild, only now he had purpose. And I was going to see him through it.
THE SECOND RYLEY and Brooklyn looked at each other, I knew something was up. It didn’t take me long to put the pieces together. If Mason didn’t tell her where I lived, there were only a couple of other options.
“So you told her where I was,” I stated.
Ryley sat down to my left and snorted. “Yeah, she kind of showed up out of nowhere. At first, we thought she was some kind of psycho fan who found out where we lived. Once she told me who she worked for, I knew who she was.”
“How?” I asked, even though I pretty much already knew.
He lifted his brows. “Really, dumbass? You’ve been confiding in Gabby and you didn’t think she’d squeal? You know she can’t keep a secret for shit.”
